Transactions, may 8, 2015

     Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Ron Jaworski has acquired his sixth golf property. The ESPN analyst and former Philadelphia Eagle quarterback is the leader of a group that purchased Downingtown Country Club, which features an 18-hole, George Fazio-designed course that opened in the mid 1960s. “The course is in really good shape,” Jaworski’s son, B.J., said in a press release. “We’re just going to see if we can put our little touch on it to make it a little bit better.” Jaworski’s partnership includes Ira Lubert, the founder of a major Philadelphia-based investment company, Lubert-Adler Partners. The partners bought the property from an entity controlled by Adam Loew of J. Loew & Associates, which has its headquarters on a site overlooking the course’s 12th hole. “We felt a new owner would bring a new vitality to the club,” Loew said. “I feel confident the new owner will bring a new level of attention to the golf club.” Jaworski’s portfolio includes one other property in Pennsylvania (Honey Run Golf Club in York) and four in New Jersey (among them Blue Heron Pines Golf Club in Egg Harbor City and Running Deer Golf Club in Pittsgrove).

     Johns Island, South Carolina. A U.S. bankruptcy court has endorsed a bid for Golf Club at Briar’s Creek that’s been submitted by the owner of the Houston Texans. Robert “Bob” McNair, one of the club’s founding members and a part-time local resident, expects to pay $11.3 million for the financially troubled 13-year-old venue and its Rees Jones-designed golf course. If all goes as planned, McNair will close on the transaction later this month.

     Sarasota, Florida. An entity led by Jon Whittemore has reportedly paid $3.25 million for Serenoa Golf Club, a 233-acre spread with an 18-hole, 25-year-old golf course. Serenoa is Whittemore’s second golf property in the city, as the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that last year he paid $1.5 million for Rolling Green Golf Club. Whittemore bought Serenoa from a partnership led by J. Michael Ussery of Austin, Texas-based OnCourse Strategies. Ussery’s group paid $2 million for the club in late 2012, after a lender had foreclosed on a previous owner. At the time, Ussery said that Serenoa “had potential to be a good investment for us.” Turns out he was right.

     St. Michaels, Maryland. Last month, Harbourtowne Golf Resort & Conference Center fetched $13 million from a buyer who’s hoping to remain anonymous. Marcus & Millichap, which brokered the sale of the 153-acre resort and its 18-hole, Pete Dye-designed golf course, describes the new owner as “an international hotel and leisure company with unique synergies to the property.” The Easton Star Democrat identifies the buyer as a group led by Richard D. Cohen, the principal of New York City-based Capital Properties. Cohen, who also owns the Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels, reportedly bought Harbourtown from entity that calls itself Cal-Mar Associates. M&M says that its client expects to reposition Harbourtown as “a world-class luxury resort” and has “the resources” to do it.  

     North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. LStar Communities has paid $16 million for the 181-acre Waterway Hills Golf Club and 62 acres of adjacent property. It was a strategic purchase, as the properties are located along the northern edge of LStar’s Grande Dunes, a 2,200-acre master-planned community that needs capacity for expansion. Waterway Hills features a 27-hole complex that was designed by Robert Trent Jones. LStar’s managing partner told the Myrtle Beach Sun-News that he has “no plans for development at this time,” but he’s raised the possibility with local planning officials. For the time being, the Waterway Hills complex will complement Grande Dunes’ Members Club, which has an 18-hole course that was co-designed by Nick Price and Craig Schreiner. LStar bought Waterway Hills from an investment group controlled by Marjorie Holliday, one of the heirs of J. W. Holliday, a tobacco farmer and turpentine producer who helped to make Horry County what it is today.

     Clinton, Iowa. Jestun and Brenda Gatz have reportedly paid $700,000 for the Oaks, an 18-hole, Tom Bendelow-designed golf course that dates to 1920. They plan to restore the course’s original name, Valley Oaks, and reduce greens fees in the hope of generating more play. “I just feel that from a business standpoint, we wouldn’t charge more than what I’d be willing to pay myself,” Jestun Gatz told the Clinton Herald. “We feel like we can meet a large audience.” The couple also owns Silver Ridge Golf Course in Oregon, Illinois. They bought the Oaks from Clinton Country Club, Ltd., which paid $1.5 million for it in 2010.

     Snohomish, Washington. An unnamed “international investment group” is the new owner of Golf Club at Echo Falls, a 23-year-old venue that features an 18-hole, Jack Frei-designed golf course. According to the Everett Daily Herald, Echo Falls was the first golf property purchased by Scott Oki, a former Microsoft executive who currently owns seven other properties in the Puget Sound area. The Oki partnership’s holdings include Indian Summer Golf & Country Club in Olympia, Trophy Lake Golf & Casting Club in Port Orchard, and Washington National Golf Club in Auburn. The new owners of Echo Falls have hired Oki’s management company to manage their club.

     San Diego, California. A San Francisco-based private equity firm and hedge-fund manager has acquired majority control of Grand Del Mar, a resort that features an 18-hole, Tom Fazio-designed golf course. Blum Capital Partners, a company founded by Richard C. Blum, reportedly paid $228 million for the 380-acre property, which also has some villas, a shopping area, a spa, and a 249-room hotel with meeting space. The property will be managed by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and operated as Fairmont Grand Del Mar.

     Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. A self-professed former “ski bum” has acquired one of New Hampshire’s oldest golf properties. Craig Larson paid an undisclosed price for Waterville Valley Golf Course, a nine-hole track in the White Mountains that’s been in business since 1898. Larson, who’s promised to be a “hands-on” owner, bought the course from the company that’s developing the Waterville Valley resort community.

      River Vale, New Jersey. Development is on the horizon for Edgewood Country Club. The 186-acre club, which features a 27-hole golf complex, was recently sold by its members to an entity controlled by Eric Witmondt, a local developer. The Herald News reports that Witmondt and his partner, Bruce Schonbraun, “plan at some point to seek approval to add a residential component to part of the property.” Edgewood was founded in 1956, but its John Handwerg-designed golf courses date to earlier times. It’s reportedly lost roughly 100 members over the past three years.

     Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii. Pacific Business News has identified the new Japanese owner of Kapolei Golf Club: Daito U.S., Inc., an affiliate of an Osaka-based manufacturing company. Daito paid nearly $32 million for the 20-year-old club and its 18-hole, Ted Robinson-designed golf course. The seller was Pacific Links Hawaii, an affiliate of Pacific Links International, which bought Kapolei from a Japanese group in 2010.